Iceland: industry and education authorities cooperate on new study programmes

Two new study programmes were announced in 2019 and were praised as an excellent example of innovative cooperation between industry and the education system.

These new programmes are:

a three-year programme named ‘game creator’, at upper secondary level; this focuses on developing practical skills in designing and developing video games;

a new vocational study programme for machine operators in the earth-moving industry

The ‘game creator’ programme

A new upper secondary level programme of study was introduced in 2019 at Iceland‘s Keilir educational institute. It focuses on practical skills in designing and developing video games, leading to a matriculation examination with this special practical focus. It includes several practical assignments in cooperation with companies within this growing creative industry in Iceland. It is intended to meet the industry‘s demand for labour, with practical skills in this field, and many young people‘s demand for practical education and training for employment in this creative industry. A maximum 44 learners were registered for the first year but applications were more than double that number, to the pleasant surprise of the Federation of Icelandic Industries. The Icelandic game industry, an association of the Federation of Icelandic Industries, will support the implementation of the new ‘game creator’ study programme with professional career counselling and quality management.

The ‘machine operator’ study programme

This new programme was initiated by the industry itself but developed in cooperation with national education authorities and a leading vocational school. It will be a vocational programme at upper secondary level, partly based on examples in other Nordic countries, and is intended to strengthen recruitment and increase the level of skills available to the industry. An agreement to develop the programme has been signed by the Association of Earth-moving Contractors, the Association of Icelandic Industries, the education ministry and the technical college/school of the industry. Representatives of all parties are participating in a preparatory group.